PLAYER RATINGS | RB Leipzig 2-0 Werder Bremen – Assan Ouédraogo stars as Red Bulls reclaim second | OneFootball

Goals from Assan Ouédraogo and Xaver Schlager secured a 2-0 win for RB Leipzig against Werder Bremen as the Red Bulls reclaim second in the Bundesliga.

In a hotly-contested opening 20 minutes of the game where neither side lacked attacking impetus, Antonio Nusa hit a venomous strike straight into the arms of Mio Backhaus in the Bremen goal, while David Raum saw his free-kick fly narrowly over the crossbar. Senne Lynen saw his volleyed effort fly just wide of the post after a nice setup from Romano Schmid.

Leipzig then began to take real control of the game and severely limited the visitors’ time on the ball. The biggest chance of the game thus far came after 25 minutes as the ball fell to Ridle Baku on the right side of the box. Fresh from international duty, the German defender was perhaps a little surprised how much space he found himself in before dragging his effort wide of the Bremen goal.

Five minutes later, Ouédraogo shot from 25 yards towards the bottom left corner, forcing Backhaus into making a good save. The newly-capped Germany international would unleash another strike soon after, forcing another save and beginning a succession of corners for Leipzig. Culminating in a fantastic chance for Christoph Baumgartner, the Austrian’s tame effort was hit straight at Backhaus.

Backhaus was on hand to make another brilliant save before half-time. Baumgartner’s deflected strike looked to be dropping over the goalkeeper and into the far post before Backhaus’ big leap saw him push the ball to safety. 

The visitors came out after the break with renewed vigour. Within a couple of minutes of the restart, Schmid forced a good save from Péter Gulácsi, and from the resulting corner the ball eventually found its way to Keke Topp at the far post, whose header hit the side netting. Cameron Puertas’ shot then stung the palms of the Hungarian goalkeeper again.

Leipzig began to find their feet again on the hour mark but were caught on the break by a defence-splitting pass that sent Jens Stage clean through on goal, before a retreating Yan Diomande foiled the Bremen man with a superb tackle.

Baumgartner was then denied by fellow Austrian Marco Grüll on the goal line to keep the match goalless. Leipzig would take the lead moments later when Ouédraogo struck an incredible effort with his weaker left foot from 20 yards, sending the ball into the top-left corner and giving Backhaus no chance.

The Red Bulls doubled their lead with 10 minutes left on the clock when Baumgartner won a header from a corner, the ball dropping to substitute Schlager, who turned his man and fired past Backhaus into the bottom corner.

Ole Werner’s side saw out the win as Bremen huffed and puffed in search of a goal that might have kick-started a comeback. Although the final scoreline suggests a comfortable win for Leipzig – who reclaim second, this could not be further from the truth. The visitors had several excellent chances of their own and could easily have taken something from the game.

RB Leipzig 2-0 Werder Bremen Player Ratings

RB Leipzig: Péter Gulácsi (6) – Ridle Baku (5), Willi Orbán (6), Castello Lukeba (6), David Raum (6) – Assan Ouédraogo (7), Nicolas Seiwald (6), Christoph Baumgartner (6) – Yan Diomande (7), Conrad Harder (5), Antonio Nusa (5)

Others: Schlager (6), Bakayoko (6), Finkgräfe (-), Banzuzi (-), Gomis (-)

Werder Bremen: Mio Backhaus (7) – Yukinari Sugawara (6), Amos Pieper (6), Karim Coulibaly (6), Marco Friedl (5) – Jens Stage (5), Senne Lynen (6) – Cameron Puertas (6), Romano Schmid (6), Marco Grüll (7) – Keke Topp (5)

Others: Njinmah (6), Mbangula (6), Boniface (6), Patrice Čović (-)

GGFN | Harry Good